Irons may just hit scousers with a secret weapon

By CandH’s top blogger Allen Cummings

Could Manuel Lanzini be David Moyes secret weapon this Saturday when West Ham face Liverpool at Anfield in the teatime kick off?

Our little Argentine has already shown he has a goal in him this season with his unbelievable strike against the Spuds. It might well be worth pointing out to David Moyes, if he doesn’t already know, Manu quite enjoys scoring against the scousers, too.

It was a bright August day on Merseyside in 2015 that Lanzini notched his first goal against Liverpool in our comprehensive 3-0 victory. He also found the back of the Reds’ net again in the 2017-18 – scoring our only goal in a 4-1 defeat at the London Stadium.

Ironically Lanzini is a player Jurgen Klopp knows all about, and has admired for some time. The Liverpool boss was rumoured to be eyeing up a move for Manu back in 2017, as a replacement for play-maker Phillipe Coutinho who was Barcelona bound.

It was said Klopp was considering a bid of around £30m at the time. But for whatever reason that never materialised. There was renewed talk last season of Klopp coming back in for the player he had continued to monitor, when our Premier League status looked to be in the balance. But again nothing came of the supposed interest.

Michail Antonio’s confirmed absence means there is a first team place up for grabs – but it would likely require a change in formation for Lanzini to come into contention for a starting place.

He’s almost certain to be on the bench though and would be a valuable option for Moyes to consider as the game unfolded.

Football is full of quirky coincidences and strange ironies. Is it possible the little man could come up trumps again? Manuel Lanzini coming off the bench may be an option Klopp and Liverpool might not want to see.